The ambassador of Australia to the United States is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the director of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United States of America. The embassy is located in Washington, D.C. It is Australia's third-oldest ambassadorial post, after the High Commissions in London (1910) and Ottawa (1939). The role has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The current ambassador, since April 2026, is Greg Moriarty. The ambassador's work is assisted by multiple consulates throughout the country that have visiting and reporting responsibilities, as well as consular and trade matters for the embassy.

Posting history The United States and Australia have had official diplomatic relations since 1 March 1940, when Australia established a legation in Washington as one of its first independent postings. Prior to that, Australia had been represented by the British Embassy in Washington, either through a representative of the Australian government or simply by British officials on Australia's behalf. During 1929, Prime Minister Stanley Bruce appointed Herbert Brookes as "Commissioner-General to the United States", with a mandate to promote "Australian achievements in economic, musical, artistic, literary and intellectual fields". However, Brookes was recalled the next year by James Scullin (Bruce's successor), as a cost-saving measure during the Depression. During 1937, Joseph Lyons (Scullin's successor) appointed Keith Officer as a liaison officer posted with the British Embassy, with the diplomatic rank of "Counsellor". Officer continued in the job until February 1940 when he became the charge d'Affaires, pending the arrival of Casey as the first Minister.

First established as a legation directed by an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, on 19 July 1946 the diplomatic representative was promoted to embassy status and the Australian Minister, Frederic Eggleston became the first Ambassador. The job is seen as very desirable, and political appointees are regularly posted. Several distinguished Australians have served as Ambassador to the United States, including a former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (Kevin Rudd), future Governor-General of Australia (Richard Casey), a future Chief Justice of Australia (Sir Owen Dixon), a future Governor of Tasmania (James Plimsoll), three former federal leaders of the opposition (Andrew Peacock, Kim Beazley and Rudd), and a former Treasurer of Australia (Joe Hockey).

Office-holders Commissioner/Commissioner-General Ordinal Name Image Office Term start date Term end date Time in office Notes Commissioner Commissioner-General

Counsellor/Charge d'Affaires Ordinal Name Image Office Term start date Term end date Time in office Notes – Australian Counsellor, British Embassy Charge d'Affaires, Australian Legation

Minister/Ambassador Ordinal Name Image Office Term start date Term end date Time in office Notes Minister Ambassador – Chargé d'affaires Ambassador – Chargé d'affaires Ambassador – Chargé d'affaires Ambassador

Consulates LocationOpenedConsulConsular districtConsulate-General, Chicago1971Chris ElstoftIllinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, WisconsinConsulate-General, Honolulu1973Greg WilcockHawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, USPACOMConsulate-General, Houston1982Gabrielle HallTexas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, LouisianaConsulate-General, New York1945Heather Ridout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands. Consulate-General, Los Angeles1971Tanya BennettCalifornia (south of the 36N latitude), Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada (Clark County), UtahConsulate-General, San Francisco1946Chris KetterCalifornia (north of 36N latitude), Nevada (except Clark County), Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

The Australian Embassy in Washington DC, is responsible for the remaining areas of Alabama, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

From 1993 to August 2012, there existed a Consulate-General in Atlanta, Georgia, which was managed by Austrade. The consulate's closure was due to a realignment of resources "to growing and emerging markets like Mongolia and Colombia." After its closure, the consulate's reporting responsibilities for the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina were transferred to the Australian Embassy in Washington. From 12 September 1994 to his death on 11 June 2017, there existed an Honorary Consulate in Denver, Colorado, held by Mark O'Regan, an Australian-born Denver realtor and former civil servant in the Territory of Papua New Guinea. From 7 December 1999 to his death on 6 November 2013, the Honorary Consul in Miami, Florida, was Thomas Flynn. Flynn was appointed as an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service as honorary consul in 2005. Don Slesnick was an Honorary Consul for Florida from 2013. From 2002 to approximately 2006, Len Reid was the Australian Honorary Consul in Seattle. Reid is now Honorary Consul Emeritus.

Consuls-general Atlanta The consulate-general was opened in 1993 under Austrade management. The consulate was closed in August 2012 following an Austrade restructure. NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesIan Wing14 September 1993May 1997Geoff Gray14 August 19972000David Crook200022 November 2004Amanda Hodges7 January 2005June 2009Duncan ColeJune 200931 August 2012

Chicago Originally opened in 1971, the consulate-general was closed in 1993 due to budget constraints after being transferred to Austrade, but re-opened under DFAT in 2001. NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesT. W. Collis19711974F. B. Hall 19751978D. C. Goss 19791980B. B. Hickey19811985Terry McCarthy19861987Jeremy Hearder19881990Kevin Gates19916 August 1993 Consulate closedRon Harvey20012004Bob Charles20052008Elizabeth SchickApril 2008April 2011Roger PriceNovember 201131 March 2015Michael Wood1 April 201518 January 2019David Bushby18 January 2019March 2022Emma Buckham (acting)March 2022 December 2023 Chris Elstoft December 2023 present

Honolulu Originally opened as a Consulate in January 1973, the posting was upgraded to a Consulate-General on 26 March 1978. NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesDavid Wadham (Consul)January 1973June 1975William Rowe (Consul)June 197526 March 1978William Rowe 26 March 1978June 1979Brian MeadeJune 1979February 1983Bill FisherFebruary 1983April 1987Richard SmithApril 1987August 1989Robert TysonAugust 1989January 1993Murray CobbanJanuary 1993October 1995Colin McDonaldOctober 1995May 1998Peter WoolcottMay 1998July 2001Paul RobilliardJuly 2001September 2004John QuinnSeptember 2004August 2007David BinnsAugust 2007August 2011Scott DewarAugust 2011February 2015Jeff Robinson8 February 201522 December 2017Jane Hardy22 December 201725 June 2021Andrea Gleason25 June 20213 July 2024Greg Wilcock 3 July 2024 incumbent

Los Angeles Originally a Trade Commission from 1965, the post was upgraded to a Consulate-General from 3 March 1971 and was closed during a period of budget cuts to Foreign Affairs on 1 July 1976. The consulate reopened in September 1978 and management was transferred from DFAT to Austrade in October 1992. DFAT resumed management from November 1999. NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesA. I. Macrae (Trade Commissioner)19641966M. J. Long (Trade Commissioner)19673 March 1971Philip Searcy 3 March 1971September 1975Harold MarshallSeptember 19751 July 1976 Consulate closedPeter BarbourSeptember 1978April 1981John McLeay Jr.April 1981February 1984Basil TeaseyFebruary 1984June 1988John KelsoJune 1988October 1992Colin HookOctober 1992May 1995Robert O'DonovanJune 19951997Michael Johnson1997November 1999Allan RocherNovember 1999November 2002John OlsenNovember 2002September 2006Innes WilloxSeptember 2006March 2009Chris De Cure March 2009July 2012Karen LanyonJuly 2012October 2015Chelsey Martin22 October 20152020Jane Duke4 September 202012 November 2023Tanya Bennett12 November 2023date

San Francisco Since 1993, the consulate-general has been managed by Austrade. NameStart of termEnd of termReferencesEdward SmartJuly 1946October 1949Guide to the San Francisco News, July 1946: New Consul General Edward Kenneth Smart of AustraliaN. N. Frewin (acting) October 19491952Stewart Wolfe Jamieson June 19521955Melville Marshall May 19551960Bill Cutts December 19601963Frederick Homer February 19631966Neil Truscott February 19661970Roger Dean April 19701974John McCredie August 19741977Geoffrey Brady August 19771982Leslie Sellars November 19821983John Melhuish May 19831986David Rutter October 19861990David CharlesAugust 1990September 1993John Paul McCaffrey29 September 1993May 1995Dr Joe Hlubucek25 May 19951998Peter Lewis AM July 1998October 2002Peter Frank16 October 20022005David Lawson2005June 2009Nigel WarrenJune 2009June 2015Sally-Ann WattsJune 2015October 2015Chris OldfieldOctober 2015March 2019Nick NichlesMarch 20197 July 2023Chris Ketter7 July 2023Incumbent

See also Australia–United States relations Embassy of Australia, Washington, D.C. List of consuls-general of Australia in New York Embassy of the United States, Canberra List of ambassadors of the United States to Australia

References

Further reading

External links Embassy of Australia United States of America Australian Consulate-General - Chicago Australian Consulate-General - Los Angeles